He gave up two businesses and a comfortable life at 32 years old to become a Green Beret — then spent six months in the Congo hunting one of the world's most wanted warlords, Joseph Kony.
In this episode, Josh Nacey takes us from a small painting company in Rock Springs, Wyoming, through Special Forces selection, the Q Course, and multiple deployments — including a split-team operation in the Congo where his unit fought alongside Congolese forces, dealt with poachers and elephant killings, and lived alongside a warlord's brutal reach. He also opens up about what almost nobody in Special Operations wants to talk about: transitioning home, operator syndrome, divorce, and the suicide statistics that are 30% higher for special operations veterans than the rest of the military.
Josh now runs the CharlieMike Foundation and is launching Mend the Drift, a new initiative using fly fishing to help special operations veterans heal.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
1:27 – Military roots: two grandfathers, two wars
3:14 – Enlisting at 32
10:00 – The recruiter's 8-month test
12:15 – Arriving at basic training
22:26 – The hardest part: Q Course & Small Unit Tactics
41:40 – What is a Green Beret, really?
44:35 – Inside a 12-man ODA
46:13 – Becoming an 18 Charlie (demolitions)
57:16 – Graduation day: earning the Green Beret
1:01:10 – First deployment: the Philippines
1:15:20 – The mission: hunting Joseph Kony
1:16:07 – Deploying to the Congo
1:18:37 – First impressions of the Congo
1:21:31 – Hunting the LRA
1:23:46 – The village and the two men
1:29:25 – Patrolling the jungle with Congolese forces
1:33:52 – Poachers, elephants, and a warzone for wildlife
1:37:36 – The hippo story
1:43:07 – A tragic firefight
1:49:52 – Coming home: "operator syndrome"
1:55:21 – Hitting bottom and asking for help
1:58:50 – Ketamine, SGB, and resetting fight-or-flight
2:04:58 – Founding the CharlieMike Foundation
2:06:52 – Fly fishing and Operation Pay It Forward
2:11:15 – Mend the Drift: his new mission
2:12:48 – The suicide numbers no one talks about
2:16:30 – The real cost of service
🤝 SUPPORT THE MISSION
CharlieMike Foundation & Mend The Drift: https://mendthedrift.org/
Operation Pay It Forward: https://opif4ourvets.org/
IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING
This episode includes candid discussion of combat, military transition, and veteran suicide statistics. If you or someone you know is a veteran in crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is available 24/7: call 988 then press 1, text 838255, or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net.
#GreenBeret #SpecialForces #Veteran #JosephKony #Congo #MentalHealth #Podcast
